60 recreational fishermen face loss of licenses

The Department of Natural Resources will announce today that it has made its own large catch — 60 recreational fishermen involved in a variety of illegal activities on Maryland's waterways in the past five months.

As a result, the agency has proposed suspending their licenses for anywhere from 30 days to a year depending on the seriousness of the crime. It marks the first time that the DNR has proposed recreational licenses be suspended since the legislature empowered it to do so more than two years ago. Those who are in jeopardy of losing their licenses have been notified by mail and have 30 days to request an administrative hearing. If such a request is made, an administrative judge will make the final decision. Recent history suggests that the administrative judge will likely side with the DNR.

According to Tom O'Connell, director of fisheries services for the DNR, 14 of the violators were engaged in catching striped bass during a closed season, exceeding the catch limit or keeping undersized fish. Other violations included illegal activities in catching crabs, trout and largemouth bass. O'Connell said the fishermen were caught through information received from other fishermen as well as the Natural Resources Police.

"We're taking these violations of these public trust resources very seriously by providing these levels of penalties," O'Connell said in a telephone interview Monday. "Word will get out, and people's behavior will improve."

Asked whether suspending the privileges of dozens of anglers could be more of a deterrent than just having a handful suspended, O'Connell said: "I'm not sure. It will be interesting to see what the public reaction is. The percentage of [violators among] the entire recreational fishing community is still pretty small when you have a half-million people fishing out there. It is difficult to catch these people, but when you catch them and by giving them a penalty it's a way of telling others, 'Don't take the risk. Abide by the rules.' Not to just fish for today, fish for the future."

O'Connell said that as part of an Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, those found in violation of Maryland laws will not be allowed to get fishing licenses in 35 other states, including West Virginia and Pennsylvania. They will be able to get a license in Virginia and Delaware, however, because those states are not part of the pact.

The violations took place since April, said Sarah Widman, the director of policy and planning for the Fisheries Service. Wideman said the violators were divided about "50-50" between those who had prior violations and those who were caught for the first time.

The DNR reported in April that nine recreational fishermen from Delaware and Texas were charged with poaching rockfish during a closed season. A few of the nine in that group are part of the current group whose licenses could be suspended, DNR spokesman Josh Davidsburg said Monday.

After Senate Bill 164 was passed in July 2009, the DNR worked with sportfishing and tidal fishing groups to come up with penalties for commercial and recreational fishermen who committed "egregious violations that would trigger suspensions," O'Connell said.

O'Connell said the "minor size limit infractions would likely not get you suspended, but if you're fishing during closed periods, or exceeding your catch limits [by a large number], those are things that we expect recreational fishermen to know."

Before July 2009, recreational fishermen and crabbers were subject to different laws depending on whether they were on tidal or nontidal waters; they were not prosecuted as vigorously as they are now. As a result, Wideman said, few fishermen who violated natural resources laws were caught or prosecuted.

O'Connell said recreational fishermen have been calling for the DNR to penalize violators more severely for several years.

In 2007, an increase in recreational licensing fees helped create a task force on fisheries management. The report was completed in December 2009 to enhance enforcement. The proposal to suspend the licenses of these recreational fishermen comes on the heels of NRP finding illegal nets used by commercial fishermen to make wide-scale hauls earlier this year.

The DNR shut down the February striped bass gill net season after the NRP confiscated more than 10 tons of illegally caught striped bass in two days. In May, the NRP found 1,400 yards of illegal anchored gill net containing more than three tons of dead rockfish near Tilghman Island.

The College of DuPage needs to set aside at least $2.85 million in the coming year to cover legal fees associated with various criminal and internal investigations at school, according to a new budget analysis.

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